however, we are moving into a new era because of our population growth and the type of 

 industries we now have, where we are much more concerned about water conservation. 

 One of the brightest people I have ever known, told me 10 or 12 years ago that in the 

 future of Louisiana, we would be without our cheap natural energy resources — oil and 

 gas. He said that for the eventual development of Louisiana, the one unique resource, if 

 we conserved it, would be water. The utilization and conservation of water is of great 

 long-term importance. 



In our panel deliberations, we first considered property rights. If I could summarize 

 that discussion, I would say that individual property rights are in danger, in so far as 

 water is concerned. Erosion tends to work against the private owner and against the 

 State in favor of the Federal Government. State law allows private land owners to 

 restablish claims to eroded land if, at his own expense, he rebuilds it. This is, of course, 

 an expensive proposition. Thus my impression is that the interest of private land owners 

 ore in considerable jeopardy in coastal Louisiana. 



Furthermore, there is a lack of property rights to water in Louisiana. We have 

 some riparian rights established in law, but there is nothing comparable to the mineral 

 code for oil and gas in so far as water is concerned. This is principally a concern 

 regarding ground water, where a well drilled on other property may deplete ground water 

 under an individual's property. We do not have protection regarding groundwater rights 

 and it is an issue the legal and academic communities should investigate. 



Other legal issues related to coastal erosion concern regulations, which may have 

 been erected to protect the environment, but which also may become an impediment to 

 activities designed to control erosion or saltwater intrusion. We heard a horror story 

 about an attempt to erect control structures initiated in 1972, which has been held up by 

 permitting problems through 1981. The environmental assessment process should be 

 streamlined by shortening the time of review by Federal and State agencies. 



The economic and social impacts of continued coastal erosion in Louisiana are 

 indeed likely to be enormous. Dr. Davis developed sobering scenarios about the 

 tremendous economic costs of declining renewable natural resources, and increased flood 

 protection and how this may affect society in south Louisiana. 



OPTIONS: BARRIER ISLAND AND SHORELINE PROTECTION 



Dr. Charles Groat, Louisiana Geological Survey 



Barrier islands are literally at the forefront of the coastal erosion problem, being 

 out in front of the land mass. It is necessary to consider options available to slow barrier 

 island erosion within the frame work of the natural processes which have created and are 

 destroying the islands. Barrier islands are as much, if not more than other parts of the 

 coast, a part of the death process of a delta. Any attempt to stop erosion must face up 

 to that process of dying and the options available must be carefully considered in that 

 context. 



Having considered the processes which form and destroy Louisiana's barrier islands, 

 speakers then discussed various attempts which have been made in the past in Louisiana, 

 Texas, and other parts of the world to stop shoreline erosion and preserve the integrity of 

 barrier islands. We considered structural methods such as groins to pin down the ends of 



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